GOP Releases Budget Highlighting Need For Oil, Gas Production And Countering Biden Climate Agenda

GOP Releases Budget Highlighting Need For Oil, Gas Production And Countering Biden Climate Agenda

Thomas Catenacci on June 9, 2022

The Republican Study Committee (RSC), a group of House conservatives who craft policy proposals, unveiled its 2023 budget Thursday which stresses the importance of energy independence.

The plan, titled “Blueprint to Save America,” endorsed more than 20 energy-related policies or bills designed to bolster American fossil fuel production, according to a partial copy of the RSC budget obtained in advance by The Daily Caller News Foundation. The budget represents a counter to the Biden administration’s climate agenda which the Republican group blamed for the record-high gasoline prices hitting consumers.

“From Day 1 in office, Joe Biden weaponized the presidency to attack our domestic energy industry, destroying years of progress under the Trump and even Obama Administrations,” Republican Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, who leads the leads the RSC Budget and Spending Task Force, told TheDCNF.

“An energy-dominant United States is essential to keeping prices down and ensuring reliable energy access to our communities while providing high-paying jobs to American workers,” he continued. “The RSC Budget will unleash American energy production to get us back on track and repair the damage Biden has done to our country – this is a top priority not just for conservatives, but for all Americans.”

The budget proposes to reverse Biden’s executive actions halting drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, endorses domestic critical mineral production, supports the Line 5 pipeline that carries petroleum to Michigan and opposes U.S. involvement in the Paris climate accords. It also highlighted a series of Republican bills that would fast track oil and gas permitting, open up more land for energy development and remove barriers to constructing new nuclear plants.

Gasoline and energy prices have precipitously increased throughout Biden’s presidency and the Department of Energy admitted Tuesday the historic prices wouldn’t subside soon. The average price of gasoline reached a record of $4.96 a gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA data.

“The RSC knows that hard working Americans deserve better than out of control inflation and unaffordable gasoline,” the RSC plan stated. “America should be exploring and unleashing our vast reserves of energy and mineral resources.”

“The RSC Budget vehemently stands opposed to so-called ‘Build Back Better’ agenda, which includes $80 billion in new taxes on domestic energy producers and more than $555 billion in climate giveaways to liberal special interests that would raise utility costs, kill jobs, and force working-class Americans to foot the bill,” it added.

Shortly after taking office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order pausing all oil and gas leasing on federal lands and nixed the Keystone XL pipeline permit, saying the U.S. must “prioritize the development of a clean energy economy.” The president has also boosted a variety of green energy plans, backing electric vehicle, solar and wind handouts, while setting ambitious decarbonization goals.

The Department of the Interior is slated to hold its first onshore lease sale since Biden took office in Nevada on June 14, a year after a federal judge ruled the moratorium on new leases was unconstitutional. The agency isn’t expected to hold an offshore lease sale until late 2023 at the earliest after the White House canceled all three remaining leases last month.